Arrival of massive bridge girder signals North Commuter Parkway progress

Some heavy metalarrived in Saskatoon today.

The first of 58 girders for the North Commuter Parkway bridge was trucked into the city this morning.

"We're excited to see this phase of the project begin," said Dan Willems, director of major projects for the City of Saskatoon, in a news release. "People have been waiting for this for many years and it's finally taking shape."

Each of the girders are three metres tall and 33.5 metres long. Each one weighs more than 52,000 kilograms.

Construction on the bridge's first span will begin this afternoon.

When it's completed in October 2018, the bridge will allow people who live in Saskatoon's northeast to cross the river into the Marquis and North Industrial Areas to work. The city's replacement for the downtown Traffic Bridge is also expected to be completed at the same time.

For more information, including a live view of the bridge's construction, click here.